San Jose State football: Grading the Week

*** 2:25 p.m. update:TB Brandon Rutley (sprained ankle) will be a day-of-game decision, according to SJSU coach Mike MacIntyre. Rutley did some running at practice today, which is more than he was able to do last week. But it remains far from certain that he will play.

I’m headed to Mike MacIntyre’s early-afternoon press conference and will provide an update on Brandon Rutley in this spot later today.

And if there’s no update … I’ll make note of that, too. Look for something at 2ish.

Watching the BYU game on tape late Saturday night, I couldn’t help but think that the three best tailbacks on SJSU’s roster were out: Rutley (ankle), David Freeman (arm) and De’Leon Eskridge (transfer).

Result: Lost at BYU 29-16

Grade: C-

Comment: If the grade seems a bit harsh for a 13-point road loss to a program that has the stature of BYU, here’s my reasoning:

The grades are all relative, as I’ve noted in the past, and SJSU has shown enough competency in recent weeks to warrant an elevated scale.

(Had the Spartans lost by 13 in Provo last year, for example, it would have probably resulted in a B or B-.)

The other consideration is that BYU simply isn’t very good. The Cougars barely beat Utah State on the same field a week earlier — SJSU should have been more competitive than it was, frankly.

But the lack of a running game, red zone inefficiency (1 TD in 3 trips), a soft defensive performance in the first half and a slew of mistakes enabled BYU to control the game throughout … and were additional reasons for the downgrade.

(MacIntyre’s harsh postgame comments, especially calling the defense “pitiful” in the first half, reflects heightened expectations from within the program and is a good sign for long-suffering SJSU fans.)

* Quarterback Matt Faulkner completed 25 of 35 passes but threw two bad INTs — bad in that there weren’t anywhere near the receivers, which, to be fair, could mean the receiver ran the wrong patterns.

Throw in the botched center snap on the second possession, Jabari Carr’s dropped downfield pass and Tiuke Tuipulotu’s bungled interception, which probably would have been a Pick Six — and it was too much for SJSU to overcome.

* I was impressed with freshman Tyler Ervin in his debut at tailback (4.4 ypc).

He has good acceleration and elusiveness and reminds me of Rutley as a freshman, although Ervin does a better job running downhill than Rutley did (until this season, actually).

* Encouraging sign for the Spartans: No penalties.

* Also encouraging: That Jens Alvernik made all three field goals, from 24, 40 and 43 yards.

I have to think that’s a huge psychological boost, not only to the players but the coaching staff, which can now assume a reasonable level of FG accuracy from 35+ yards when calling plays in the opponent’s territory.

Had Alvernick performed like this last year, in his first season after transferring from CCSF, the Spartans would have won two or three more games.

Next up: vs. Hawaii (Friday)

The matchup: The Friday night affair on ESPN is a fabulous opportunity for SJSU, but it’s also a tough matchup without at least one of the Brandons … Brandon Driver.

Hawaii is the best team in the WAC and has the league’s best quarterback in senior Bryant Moniz, who is coming off back-to-back 400+ yard passing games.

Driver is the Spartans’ best cornerback … or was, until his season-ending Achilles injury at Colorado State.

His absence places added stress on the secondary and may require SJSU to drop more linebackers into coverage that it would if Driver were healthy, thus leaving fewer LBs available to pressure Moniz.

* That said, Hawaii can be had: The Warriors lost at UNLV (40-20) in what stands as one of the most inexplicable results of the season. (Yes, I realize UH was playing back-to-back mainland games. Doesn’t matter: UNLV is terrible.)

The Warriors should be well rested this week, however. They’re coming off a bye.

* The key for SJSU will be the running game … and limiting turnovers, of course.

Whether Rutley’s available or not, the Spartans have to present a balanced attack to keep the Warriors guessing and to open up the play-action game with tight end Ryan Otten, in particular.

The longer Faulkner is on the field, the longer Moniz is off it.

* Former San Jose State coach Dick Tomey will be on the opposing sideline: Tomey is Hawaii’s special teams coach, for those who didn’t know.

Jon Wilner

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Rutley has to play and play well for SJSU to have a chance. Also Faulkner needs to make sure he is not throwing to Hawaii DB. Ryan Otten must be used more often. He is a winner. Go Spartans!!!

Matt “Mt.” Hamilton

I was shocked to see Coach Mac’s comments in the Merc Sunday:
“MacIntyre called the defense “pitiful”…This was a game that our kids did not believe they could win in the first half, which is very disappointing,” MacIntyre said. “We definitely could have won this football game, we should have won this football game.”
Wow. I would be pissed if I were a player who worked his butt off against a 4-2 BYU team and woke up this morning, tired and sore and read those comments.
In fact, it may have been the SJSU coaching staff that was responsible for the Saturday night defeat in Provo.
If the team didn’t believe they could win the game, that’s on you, coach.
If my seniors go into the SAT believing that will score well because they are well prepared, that’s on me. And vice versa.
If your team believes it can win, that’s on you. And vice versa.
The first score of the game occurred after BYU fumbled inside the Spartan five. Lucky for us.
Then the San Jose offense lined up in shotgun formation with their backs against the goal line. Bad snap resulted in a safety and we’re down 2-0 and kicking the ball away.
Note to coaches: when you are backed up against your own goal line, don’t use the shotgun where a miscue can result in two points for the other team and possession of the football. Like what happened Saturday night.
Saturday night was duel of touchdowns, not field goals. When that becomes apparent early, then fourth down and short in your opponent’s territory is first down time (with, hopefully a touchdown a little later), not time for a field goal. Play boldly, not carefully.
Here’s another “bad” by the coaching staff. If they had played QB Faulkner instead of interception machine La Secla last year, he probably wouldn’t have made some of the mistakes we are seeing now.
Matt has some throws he’d like to have back and Jabari missed some catches he normally makes. But both of them are going to win some games for us through the air.
Otten is turning out to be the big time pro prospect we thought he could be. What a great target. And I like flanking him out more than restricting him to a tight end only spot. What a great sight to see him loping through the opponent’s secondary with the ball in his hands. Here’s a good move by the coaching staff.
Our run defense wasn’t good, and some of that had to do with a very good BYU offensive line. But we didn’t tackle well Saturday, and that has to be remedied.
I don’t know when we are getting Rutley back (soon, I hope), but freshman Tyler Ervin was impressive with nine carries for 40 yards, 4.4 average per carry. Look for him to get more carries Friday night against Hawaii.
This team is a work-in-progress, and that includes Coach Mac and the play calling. Enjoy the progress we’re making, coach. Spit out those prunes and smile once in a while on the sideline. This thing is improving every week. All of us Spartan fans can see that. Enjoy the journey.
Here’s what the BYU coach said about us after the game: “San Jose is a very much improved football team from a couple of years ago, certainly. I’m impressed with the direction their program is taking.”
I’m flying up again this week and meeting the family and friends in San Jose for the Hawaii game.
Go Spartans!

Jack

No Rutley doesn’t need to play for SJS to have a chance. They’ve got other options on offense. The defense needs to contain Moniz for the Spartans to have a chance.

Jack

Here’s another “bad” by the coaching staff… Just think where we’d be if Faulkner starts or at worst comes into the Nevada game in the 2nd qtr when it was clear to a blind man Stewart wasn’t getting it done. I think we win that game and we’re 3-3 (2-0) in the WAC.

Jeremy

I’ve got to say, Matt’s analysis above was a better read than the original blog post. Nice work.

Jason

Hawaii doesn’t even belong on the same field as San Jose State. If SJSU doesn’t bolw ’em out I’m going to be pissed off. SJSU has the talent, use it. It’s very evident the talent is there, they should be 5 and 1 right now. This is getting ridiculous. Forget about the cameras, forget about the scoreboard, focus on your assignment and dismantle UH. That’s all I got to say.

Go Spartans!

Spartan’00

They could, they should, but they didn’t win… I’m sure they tried their best and just got suck up in the hype and may have got a bit too confident against BYU. We still got a lot of games on the schedule and I believe they can pull at least 4 wins from the remaining games. The mistakes were just pure lack of concentration. Giving up a safety, threw the ball right to the DB w/o any of the Spartan receivers near by (somebody F up on the play), poor tackling in the 1st half… The 2nd half was great, but we gave up too many points by then. Look forward to watching the Hawaii game. There’s still a chance for a W. We got some good receivers and Otten is definitely a goto guy when you need to covert 3rd to 1st down conversion.

I love Jason’s comments. I sure hope he is correct that Hawaii does not belong on the same field with SJSU. I wish that was true and sure hope it is true. GO SPARTANS!!!

1959

Jon, isn’t BYU like the 12th best team in the nation…?

Spartan Pubber

Although it was disappointing we didn’t come out of Provo with a win, I did see some positives. I was impressed with the play of Tyler Ervin. He showed running skills rarely seen in a Freshman. The passing game was effective, with the exceptions of Faulkner’s two interceptions. Granted, they were critical interceptions; and like Jon said, I have no idea who he was throwing the ball to either. Finally, the Spartans played a penalty free game, which goes a long way toward keeping the team in games against quality opponents. Although the defense was unable to stop the run consistently, I think it was primarily due to the mobility of the BYU quarterback. To me he is the best scrambling quarterback the Spartans have faced this season. They were simply unable to contain him most of the night. Matt: I wouldn’t worry too much about Coach Mac’s “pitiful” comments directed towards the defense. I’ve noticed the defense coming together as a unit as the season has progressed, and I think if you ask any of the defensive starters they would agree their performance against BYU was below their expectations. Look for a much improved performance Friday night against a very tough opposing quarterback. I look forward to seeing you all at Spartan Stadium Friday night.

Go Spartans!

Ken Cornwell

What a difference a year or two make. We are frustrated, disappointed and “pissed” because we know we had chances to win last Sat. and didn’t do enough. Our expectations are higher, because we see the quality of players we have on the team. That also brings angst and nervousness. That’s great. It feels good to have that. The posts above reflect that. My boy Matt’s post is better than Jon’s. Why? He’s a SJS grad, as am I, he has lived Spartan football for years and spent over 15 of those years in the SJS broadcast booth. Passion for Spartan football is why we participate in this blog and enjoy/commiserate over the outcomes of games. “Pitiful” is a very harsh word. Coach Mac is showing himself very differently this season, knowing he has the talent to win, than last year. Personally, not very impressive. Sideline antics, mean quotes and body language that exudes disgust at times are disturbing. He is known to be an excellent recruiter, which I think we are starting to see, but this is his first head coaching job. Maybe he should spend some time with Coach Tomey when he is here and glean some knowledge on how to carry yourself as a head coach.

Jason

After reading over my post I noticed it could come across as a bit douchey. I quit smokin a while back and every now and then I’ll blow up a little bit so I apologize in advance for my torette style outburst, I kind of dumped my frustration out on you guys. At this juncture I have to remember it’s 2 steps forward and 1 step back. That’s where they are right now, I just forget sometimes.

Good Luck Spartans!

Keep the faith!

Jason

Now that I’ve “kicked the dog” as it were, I’ll give my comment as to what I think was the main reason for the loss at BYU. The main reaon IMHO is the injury to Koloto. For the running game to work the offensive line has to gel and just when they started to gel as seen against previous opponents Fred Koloto got hurt, (I think in the SJSU Vs. NMSU game) correct me if I’m wrong. After that game I noticed a very slight increase in passing production over running and let’s not forget it was a pass to Carr that ultimately won the game at Colorado State the following week. During the SJSU @ BYU game I noticed the pass rush unable to pick up the blitz package that, normally would have been picked up had Koloto been in the game. The inability to pick that guy that lined up just outside the tackle was the one thing that stood out during the entire game. If Koloto can’t go this week then this week’s practice should focus on getting help on that side so that the other guys can focus on their assignment whether it be by putting in Ina Liaina (sp?) to back him up or even another tackle to stand where a fullback normally would be. If you haven’t noticed I love offensive creativity, we actually saw something similiar to this briefly during the Tomey era when they couldn’t get the running game going. They just need something to kick start and help out until the new tackle can begin to gel with the rest of the line.

Ranger John

JASON what are you smoking? The Hawaii QB was great last year and the list of talented Hawaii receivers in the pros is easy to find in the box scores of games.

Hawaii can be beat but we do have to control the ball, tackle better, and avoid the time of possession and bomb by the Rainbows.

Avoid mistakes, SJS is known to play some big games on tv, and be opprotunistic…………we have a chance to be in the league top spot!

Ranger John

PS…you don’t win in Provo. Watching the game Ut. St vs BYU the previous week, the flag came down before the ball even was thrown by the BYU qb…(they got the tip drill TD, with the receiver running the back of end zone route). SJS has been victimized by the officiating there before with phantom pass interference calls late.

Fire_Coach_Mac

Does anyone have Mike Stoops’ contact info?

Fire_Coach_Mac

Jason

No pakalolo the first play of the NMSU game Joe Nigos went down with a knee injury then our 2 deep got injured, that’s it, nobody else has experience. After thinking about it some more, I think they’re gonna have to grab the 2 deep from the other side and put him in that spot if they haven’t already. Everything starts with the Oline and they were doing good, just starting to gel and open some holes and good protection. Faulkner took some major hits against BYU, he’s got to be able to trust those guys know what they’re doing. The OC has to do some things to help him out, you can’t lay the world on the QB shoulders, it’s too much responsibility. Hawaii has 1 guy, Moniz and I think they know what they have to do to stop him. It’s open season good hunting men.

UH WARRIOR

Ay,YOU KNOW WHO IS COMING TO YOUR HOUSE?TRY to pick apart Hawaii all you want.Tomorrow the spartans are done.WARRIORS MOUNT UP!!!!!

thug nasty

I sure hope this isn’t the Jason Simpson from San Jose State University Team. Get outta here with that noise